Yahoo Mail Versus GMail - Which One Will Guard You Against A Phisher?

Aug 8, 2010

by Butterfly1961

Rating:

+4

I have both Gmail and Yahoo E-mail accounts; I use them both for different types of mail, depending on general and personal preferences. This was my experience and wish to share this information with you; this could be very important to you!!

Being a victim can either mean you have clicked on a link and have been drawn to a site that will ruin you, financially for instance, or being a victim means someone has used your email address to try and get others to be the victim. My case is the latter.

I sell designs on online stores, and months ago I joined a great store and also their Yahoo Group. As I was checking my Yahoo mail one day, I was reading an ongoing message from my new Yahoo Group where they mentioned they had received an odd email from me, and the owner of the Group said "I know Brenda would never send this on purpose" - I was wondering at this point what was going on, and wrote the owner. The Group, and every other contact I had on my Yahoo mail account, received an email from me about Viagra. Please keep in mind also that some of these horrible emails can contain a link that if you click on it, this can cause a virus on your computer; not to mention that link could direct you to phony site that will eventually end up ruining your finances; (I have no finances to ruin, but still...) 2 of the main reasons you don't want to receive these mails! I was horrified as I definitely did not send this and was not even aware it had been sent! The group owner sent me the mail she received, and sure enough, it was about Viagra; I saw the contents of the mail and everyone on my contact list that it was sent to. Keep in mind, some of these contacts are not just my friends, but other prominent store owners that I purchase products from for my designs. I contacted Yahoo, and they "suggested" that I change my password. Period.

Last night, I went on my Gmail account to check my mail, I had to sign in, and it said there was suspicious activity on my account. I had to verify my account, they sent me a verification code to my cell phone immediately, and once I entered that, I was "required" to change my password. I changed it, but Gmail said it was not strong enough and refused it. I changed it again, and they confirmed it was a good password to use. Once I got on my mail, I immediately saw where a mail was never delivered to these certain addresses; these addresses were all of my Gmail contacts. I saw where the email was sent from "me" about a Pfifer Pharmacy product - I'm going to assume it was another Viagra or something like that. Then when I got on my Spam, the first in the list was quoted as being from ME and that DELIVERY HAD FAILED TO THESE ADDRESSES. I opened the spam mail and there were several links to Gmail help to click on in order to get more information on why I had received this and what I could do about it. It even had a link to where I could report this.

Here is a breakdown of the difference between Yahoo and Gmail:

YAHOO

*I was not even aware I had been a victim until I read the ongoing conversation between the members of the store's Yahoo Group; had it not been for that, I would have never known!

*I was told by Yahoo it may be a "good idea" to change my password......

*But I was not told this until I had to research under Yahoo Help.

*I had to send an email to all of my contacts to explain to them what had happened; I knew my friends would understand, but some were business contacts for heaven's sakes!

GMAIL

*I was notified of SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY as soon as I logged into my account.

*I was required to verify that I was the owner of my Gmail account.

*They sent a verification code to my cell phone immediately.

*I could go no further until I typed in this verification code.

*I was required to change my password right away.

*They rejected my first password attempt, as this was not a safe or strong enough password.

*Second password attempt was acceptable, as it was stronger for my own safety.

*Delivery failed to all my contacts with this suspicious email from the Pfifer Company; no one received it because Gmail stopped it cold!

*Spam mailbox sent me notification that this had occurred - links were available from Gmail to make me understand what had happened, how Gmail works continuously to protect their subscribers, how to prevent it from happening again, and how to report it.

*I didn't have to send an "apology" email to my contacts, because Gmail prevented this email from even being delivered.

*I didn't have to worry that someone may click on a link in the mail that could cause a virus on their computer.

Now, you tell me which mail is the best?!?! I am confident that Gmail works to prevent a phishing attempt. All email companies can promise you protection when you first sign up, but promising and actually delivering that promise are two different things. Some email providers will even try to get you to upgrade and pay for extra protection! Gmailwent above and beyond in my opinion. Maybe you have never been a victim, and think this is not a very important issue, but believe me, it's not a minor matter. Your reputation could be at stake, especially if you have contacts that are business related, not to mention that these horrible spam mails can cause a virus on someone's computer.

I will never understand or figure out how someone can hack or be a phisher; I'm not that computer savvy thank God, but it does happen and being a victim twice, I never want it to happen again. I hope this review can help some of you; please choose carefully when it comes to an email service!

This is a great comparison - every major email provider has to deal with the same issue, and it's a question of accessibility versus security. But - as you found it - when it goes wrong, erring on the side of security results in fewer embarrassments and headaches, and I think Gmail clearly has a better solution here. Anyway, this gets my vote for most helpful review! (And not just because I'm a Google junkie). :-)

What an experience to go through, Brenda! I'm glad things worked out for you. I sometimes receive spam, but I've never had problems with my account emailing spam to my contacts. It's good to know that Google has your back. I love that they tell you to create a stronger password if yours is too weak too!

Butterfly1961August 31, 2010

Gmail really did have my back on this one - I love it. It really filters out the spam too much better than any other mail I've tried. I had to share this one so hopefully everyone will be aware there is a huge difference. No one (especially me) ever thinks about being psi shed until it could be too late!! Thanks Adrianna....

AdriannaSeptember 01, 2010

G-mail has always had my back with any issues or complications I've run into. They are so awesome!

Butterfly1961September 01, 2010

Yeah -- I've found I love Gmail way better than Yahoo for many reasons; such a huge difference!!

Whoa, the same thing happened to me the other day! Except it on my Hotmail account that I've had for about a decade. It started sending emails to my contacts with some link about Viagra and I had no idea until a friend alerted me that they had received it. I changed my password and alerted Hotmail about it. Hopefully it will never happen again. But very good to hear that about Gmail, I'm a huge fan, and apparently, many others are as well (just check out the reviews!). Thanks for sharing, Brenda!

Butterfly1961August 17, 2010

You're welcome! I believe any email service is capable of being phished, but at least I know that Gmail goes that extra mile to alert you of what has happened. I have a Hotmail address also, but rarely use it and have no contacts on it. I don't know what it is about Viagra, but someone out there desperately wants someone to click on that link; and it's a shame! I'll check out some more reviews about Gmail with the link you gave me -- thanks Devora!!

devoraAugust 17, 2010

I swear the link isn't about Viagra! ;) Yeah, I don't know what it is with those links. I wish Hotmail withheld those from being sent. I'll remember that Gmail automatically does that though!

Butterfly1961August 31, 2010

You're probably right devora - God only knows what you get with these emails about Viagra, and I get so many mails about making your organ larger, etc.....as if I'm gonna click on those! LOL Gmail really weeds out the spam also better than the other services I have had.

It's a nasty cyber-world out there. Caution is the watch word. NIce reminder.

Butterfly1961August 09, 2010

You're absolutely right - but it is nice to know there's at least one email service that is more dependable than the other at trying to prevent those that take advantage of us in the cyber-world! Thank you for your comment!

Wiki

Broadly defined as a company providing email services, an email service provider (ESP) offers email marketing or bulk email services. Neither of these terms are intended to be synonymous with spam or the sending of unwanted or unsolicited bulk email of a marketing or otherwise offensive nature.

An ESP may provide tracking information showing the status of email sent to each member of an address list. ESPs also often provide the ability to segment an address list into interest groups or categories, allowing the user to send targeted information to people who they believe will value the correspondence.